Churches lead Bulawayo clean-up campaign

Residents, church leaders, environmental officials and city representatives in Bulawayo have marked National Clean-Up Day with a joint clean-up exercise and renewed calls for a culture of everyday cleanliness. Sindah Ngulube, chairperson of the Bulawayo provincial chapter of the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations, said communities should go beyond symbolic participation and adopt a lifestyle of cleanliness. “We want to encourage our neighbours, friends and children to observe this day and then go beyond.

Let us pick up a lifestyle of cleanliness. Without a clean city we are going nowhere,” she said. EMA planning and monitoring officer Opra Sibanda urged communities to separate waste at source.

“There should be bins for glass, plastics and other waste. This helps communities and churches to stay clean, and it can also generate income because some businesses buy recyclable waste,” Sibanda said. Representing Mayor David Coltart, Ward 23 councillor Ntombizodwa Khumalo said collaboration between residents, churches, government agencies and the city council was key to sustaining cleanliness.

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“It is only through such collaborative initiatives that we can keep our city clean,” Khumalo said. She said President Emmerson Mnangagwa had announced plans to introduce awards for local authorities that consistently observe the national clean-up campaign and keep their municipalities clean. “As the City of Bulawayo, we take this challenge seriously and believe such initiatives position us to be among the winners,” she said. However, Khumalo stressed that cleanliness should not be driven by the prospect of awards.

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